Page 1 of The Magic of Betrayal
The lingering echoes of Saige’s gut clenching screams had dissipated, but they would haunt me forever. They tore right into my soul, shredding my heart, delivering jolts of panic to my system that I’d never experienced before. Bagheera was roaring inside my brain, claws out, tearing around, hackles raised. I was in a frozen state, unable to soothe him, and was stuck standing at the foot of her bed, staring at her.
Blood was still running freely from her nose, her normally lively body slack and disturbingly still. Bagheera refused to back off, so he was right there at the forefront of our connection, but he wasn’t choking like I was, he was cursing me for not moving, gods dammit.
Someone rushed past me, knocking me out of my trance.
“Tell us everything, Cam. Quickly,” Fischer demanded, climbing right into the bed with our woman, taking her hand in his and checking her pulse. Cam must’ve called them.
“She woke up, started telling us she’d been in the demon realm, she was about to say something and started complaining of a headache. Within minutes, she was screaming in agony, and then the bleeding started. Then she was just... like this,” Cam explained, the fear in his tone was evident.
Boss is scared. Shit.
Sloane moved to sit beside Fischer, running his hand over Saige’s forehead. “I don’t sense anything malevolent or demonic right now. No curses or hexes, so that’s something. I’m assuming that she was pulled there again because there’s something there that keeps calling to her. It’s like her body knows she needs to go there for something, and whatever the fucking reason, she keeps getting yanked across the realms. Remember the case we had in Sydney two summers ago?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Fischer agreed. “That poor man kept getting pulled to the other side of the world… until his soul splintered from his body.”
My heart was racing, but I still couldn’t fucking move.
“Kaito,” Cam growled, which had us growling in return. “Get your ass over here, now.”
Opening my mouth to reply, my voice was a low rumble, “I’m going to get Gran. She’ll know what to do.”
Before anyone could say otherwise, Bagheera burst out of my skin, the shift smooth and very fucking welcomed at the moment. Sprinting out of the room and jumping down the entire flight of stairs, the mudroom screen door hit the side of the house as we charged outside. Roaring our fury and fear to the sky, we raced to Gran’s cottage where she was already at the door, obviously having heard the chaos.
Bagheera handed the reins back to me and I shifted with ease, telling her everything as quickly as I could. Her face paled briefly but in true Bette fashion, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin in determination. I could see the wheels turning in her mind and I threw up every prayer, wish, and hope I could to the stars that Sprout would be okay. I wouldn’t even entertain another scenario.
“She will appear to be sleeping for now, Kaito. Don’t worry, I know something that will help. I’m going to need your assistance, though. We need to go fetch some supplies. Are you okay with leaving your mate?” she asked, placing her small hand on my arm in comfort. My eyes widened at her use of the ‘m-word’ and she smiled, answering my unasked question, “Of course I know she’s your mate. A blind mage could see that, child.”
After last night, there was no doubt in my mind that she was my true mate. Gods, the scent of her, the feel of her body gripping me, there was no other explanation.
Taking her hands in mine, I breathed out a long exhale. “I can’t just sit up there. As much as I need to be near her, right now, I just need to do something that will ensure that this never fucking happens again. Tell me the plan, please,” I begged, squeezing her fingers gently, but with an undertone of urgency.
“First things first we need to gather some crystals from the cave and then head to The Pig. All of the supplies we need are there, and we can create what I have in mind. A magical tether, something that will keep her locked in this realm, no more of this spirit snatching once we get her back. We won’t let them take her, Kai. Do you understand? These evil creatures have no business with my granddaughter and I will have their blood if they don’t fuck off. Let me grab my stuff. Go tell the others where we’re going and what we’re doing. Prepare them that this might take some time, so they need to relax.” Gran turned her back to me, rushing inside, and I blinked a couple of times before shifting back and tearing it up to get back to the guys.
The scene before us nearly broke our heart. All of our brothers were surrounding our sweet witch, Cam wiping the blood from her face with a damp cloth while Fischer was stroking her hair and Sloane was sitting at the end of the bed with his hands clasped together. Our throat tightened with emotion, but we shook that shit off, because there was a plan, and it was going to work. It had to. Shifting to myself, I walked over to where Cam was perched on the bed.
“Listen, Gran has a plan. I’m going with her to create what she called a tether; when it’s finished, it will keep Saige from being pulled across the realm. No more of this shit. She said to tell you all that Saige will be fine for now, and that we should all relax because it might take some time to get this tether complete,” I explained, sitting my bare ass on the bed.
“But how does she know that Saige will be fine? We have no fucking clue what’s going on wherever she’s at. What if she’s in danger? That’s not a stretch considering these things keep happening and coming after her,” Cam snarled, his emotions running really fucking high. All of ours were, but I had to keep them locked down because otherwise, I might shift and stay that way until this passed. The thought of that made me feel like a fucking coward, and Bagheera swiped a huge paw at the insinuation that being in his form was cowardly. My brow creased slightly from the mental discomfort his pissy cattitude was causing.It’s not like that, Baggie, and you know it. I have to be able to help her, we can’t lose her.His answer was a pitiful whine that just solidified my resolve to get this shit done.
“There’s nothing we can do for her right now, Cam,” Sloane snapped, but when Fish shot him a glare, he added a little gentler, “but we can work on this tether with Bette and get her back to us as soon as possible. I’m going to go with them; another set of hands on deck can only expedite things.”
Fischer continued lovingly stroking Saige’s hair, not shifting his focus from her face for a moment. Sloane noticed and stood, moving to stand by the headboard, his hand reaching out to Fish’s face. That seemed to get his attention and Sloane tilted Fischer’s head back slightly, staring into his eyes that I’m sure looked as sad as a kicked puppy’s.
“Fischer, we’ll get her back, everything will be as it should. I’m going to help Kaito and Bette, the sooner we get this figured out, the sooner we’ll get her back,” Sloane reasoned, always the realist, he gripped his chin as he lowered his face to press their foreheads together.
“I’m... scared,” Fish whispered, his awe over the fact that he was feeling such a thing was clear as day.
“I know. It will be okay. We’ll fix it. Breathe.” Sloane’s alpha tone rippled through the tense air and I found myself nodding, like he was addressing me as well.
“Do whatever you need to do. Just hurry. Who knows what hell she’s going through right now,” Fischer noted, and a growl came from Cam. Obviously, he did not appreciate the idea that our girl might very well be in a bad situation without us there, and no way to get to her.
Sloane leaned in then, sealing his lips over Fischer’s in a hard kiss, and Cam and I shot each other a 'what the fuck' look, because Sloaneneverdid shit like that. Always insisting that his ‘arrangement’ with Fish was strictly sexual, but this was like watching two people in love with each other, making an unspoken agreement of trust, sealing the contract with a kiss.I’m going to have to investigate this later.
“We’ll be back soon. Call us with any changes.” Sloane determinedly walked from the bedroom and I called out a hasty goodbye as I darted out to keep up with him.Let’s do this shit.
Outside, we found Bette sitting on a moped, sporting a helmet that had a unicorn horn and fake rainbow tail hanging off the back. When she saw us, she lowered riding goggles over her eyes. “Hurry up. I already ran and grabbed the crystals we will need. Let’s get to the shop. There’s no time to waste.”
With that, she fired up her rainbow colored bike, revved the little engine, and then tore down the driveway, popping a small wheelie before sending up a dust cloud in her wake.
